Tag Archives: First Niagara

Rivalries. You know you’re going to have an intense game when two teams who genuinely don’t like each other face off.

The Sabres and the Maple Leafs are rivals. Only about a 90 minute drive separate First Niagara Center from Air Canada Center, and there are generally just as many Leafs fans at the FNC when the teams play each other there as there are Sabres fans. So, you expect a fierce game when these two teams meet – but you generally don’t expect it in a pre-season game.

Jaime Devane and Corey Tropp decided to drop the gloves in the third period of Sunday night’s exhibition, which led to Tropp smashing the back of his head against the ice. The Sabres sent out enforcer John Scott on the next play, who threatened to “jump” Phil Kessel – at least, that’s what Kessel says.

Here’s the video, I’ll update you on any discipline handed down by the NHL if I hear anything.

This morning I decided to check my e-mail after a couple of days, and to my surprise, I had an e-mail from Jennifer Cingari at ESPN. The e-mail contained the press release for their latest 30 for 30 Short Film, “Cutthroat.” The appropriately titled film is about former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk, who had his throat cut by a skate during a March 22, 1989 game against the St. Louis Blues. This is an image ingrained in the hockey culture of my hometown of Buffalo, an image intensified as Richard Zednik, then of the Florida Panthers, suffered a similar injury at the HSBC Arena (now First Niagara Center), just across the street from where Malarchuk’s injury occurred. This is a very powerful film, as the ESPN 30 for 30 series tends to be, and it really is a must watch, regardless of what team you root for.

The next installment of ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts series, Cutthroat, debuts today on Grantland.com. The short film focuses on former Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk and his emotional and physical recovery from one of the most gruesome injuries in sports history.

Clint Malarchuk was known as the “Cowboy Goalie.” He grew up riding horses but suffered from severe childhood OCD, which he believes helped him focus on his hockey training. During a game against the St. Louis Blues, an opposing player’s skate blade severed Malarchuk’s carotid artery, causing one of the most shocking scenes to ever take place in a hockey rink. From award-winning director Steven Cantor, Cutthroat chronicles Malarchuk’s injury, his remarkable two-week physical recovery and his grueling emotional and mental journey, which spans twenty years and included a six-month stay in a mental hospital for long overdue PTSD treatment.